JOIN AN ABS COMMITTEE!

Would you like to volunteer for one of the society's active committees? This is an important and rewarding way to participate in the business of the society, and we need your help! Committees include Membership, Policy, Public Affairs, Education, Latin American Affairs, Conservation, Animal Care, Film, Diversity and others. Contact ABS President Regina H. Macedo, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade de Brasília 70910-900 - Brasília - DF – Brazil, Phone: +55-61-3307-2265, E-mail: rhfmacedo@unb.br

2016 ABS MEETING - ORGANIZING SYMPOSIA AND PAPER SESSIONS

A symposium should be a profound and stimulating review of an important subject area that currently is a major focus of research. It should be a thorough treatment of past work and current research advances, and should be of general interest to the majority of ABS members.

An invited paper session is a special grouping of papers that focus upon empirical results relating to a particular topic. Usually there is no all-encompassing historical-theoretical perspective, although the organizer(s) may wish to summarize the individual papers or arrange them according to some theme.

Proposals must be submitted through the website: www.tinyurl.com/abs2016symp for the 2016 meeting in Missouri are due on June 1, 2015 (midnight, Alaska timezone) before the annual meeting in Anchorage in 2015 (June 10-14: abs2015.org ). The proposals will be circulated to the Executive Committee prior to the Annual Meeting and then discussed at the EC meeting.

CALL FOR RESEARCH PROPOSALS

The Human Animal Bond Research Initiative (HABRI), in partnership with Morris Animal Foundation wish to explore evidence-based health benefits of human-animal interaction. HABRI seeks to demonstrate that our relationship with pets and animals make the world a better place by significantly improving human health and quality of life. HABRI does this by advancing the growing body of evidence about the positive roles that companion animals play in the integrated health of individuals, families and communities. For information about HABRI, visit www.habri.org. HABRI is seeking research proposals that focus on innovative approaches to studying the health effects of animals on humans in the broad categories of child health and development; healthy aging; and mental health and wellness. Deadline to apply is December 1, 2014. Information, guidelines, online applications and more can be found here: http://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/researchers/habri-request-for-proposals.html

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR FIELD COURSE

The study of animal behavior is by nature interdisciplinary - crossing the boundaries between Biology, Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology. An understanding of the behavior of diverse species contributes both to our appreciation of human evolution, and to our ability to preserve biological diversity through conservation. This 10-day Animal Behavior Field Course is being offered at the Southwestern Research Station of The American Museum Of Natural History, located in The Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. The dates are July 6 - 16, 2015

According to Conservation International, the sky islands of southern Arizona (which include the Chiricahua Mountains) contain some of the richest reservoirs of plant and animal life on earth. It is this outstanding biodiversity that attracts scientists (and their students) from all over the world. During this intensive field course, we will focus on the behavior of a variety of invertebrate and vertebrate species.

Our studies will include:
1. The Adaptability Of Behavior - color and odor preferences in the selection of nectar sources by hummingbirds.
2. Population Dynamics - the size of territory in harvester ants as a function of colony density.
3. Communication - the evolution of visual displays in iguanid lizards.
4. Social Behavior - orientation and communication in slave-making ants.
5. Mating Behavior - The role of auditory signals in mating behavior of spadefoot toads.
6. Chemical orientation in three species of lizards: the role of Jacobson's organ.
7. Visual learning in feeding behavior of Mexican jays.

The course will include daily multimedia lectures. Although most of the course will be devoted to class and small-group projects, we also participate in research being conducted by scientists at the Research Station. In addition, we attend evening seminars given by Station scientists. Indeed, it is the presence of so many scientists (and their students) from around the world that makes this field course so unique!

The course is limited to 15 participants. At the end of the course, the Southwestern Research Station will issue a Certificate of Completion.

Participants: The Animal Behavior Course is designed for: undergraduate and graduate students; teachers; professors; museum and zoo docents, environmental professionals, or anyone who enjoys observing and understanding the behavior of animals in their natural habitat.

Instructor: Dr. Howard Topoff, Professor Emeritus of Biopsychology at the City University of New York. Dr. Topoff has been conducting field research on insect social behavior at the Southwestern Research Station for over 40 years.

Cost: $1,020 per person for 10 nights. This includes course tuition ($350) as well as room and 3 meals each day at the Research Station ($670).

Your application should contain your contact information and a brief statement of your interest in this course.

NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE: ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR MONOGRAPHS

Elsevier is pleased to announce that the retro-digitization project for the Animal Behaviour Monographs (Volumes 1-6, 18 PDFs, 1968-72) is now complete and they are all available online: e.g. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00661856

These are now available to all ABS and ASAB members and subscribers and those receiving gratis access.

Send general correspondence concerning the Society to Sue Bertram, Sue.Bertram@carleton.ca. Deadlines for materials to be included in the Newsletter are the 15th of the month preceding each issue. The next deadline is 15 January, 2015. Articles submitted by members of the Society and judged by the Secretary to be appropriate are occasionally published in the ABS newsletter. The publication of such material does not imply ABS endorsement of the opinions expressed by contributors.